Method for producing disposable wearing article

ABSTRACT

A method includes producing an elastic strip material ( 12 ) by sandwiching an elastic member ( 4 ) between two webs ( 10, 11 ) under a stretched state in the longitudinal direction of the webs ( 10, 11 ), halving the elastic strip material ( 12 ) in the widthwise direction so that protrusions ( 12   a ) and recesses ( 12   b ) alternately appear, separating a first elastic strip material and a second elastic strip material obtained by halving in the widthwise direction, shifting the phases of the first and second elastic strip materials in the longitudinal direction so that the protrusions and the recesses become in phase, reducing the shrinking force of the elastic member near the protrusions ( 12   a ) of the first and second elastic strip materials ( 12 A and  12 B), and attaching an absorber ( 12   c ) onto parts ( 12   c ) of the first and second elastic strip materials ( 12 A) where the shrinking force is reduced.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for continuously producingdisposable wearing articles such as disposable underpants.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY

Body fluid absorbent wearing articles of the disposable underpants typeinclude pants-type diapers, underpants and training pants for infantsand small children and incontinence underpants. A method for producingsuch disposable wearing articles is disclosed, for example, in JapaneseUnexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-113042.

What is required for the method for producing disposable wearingarticles is to maximally reduce trims (loss parts) produced by cuttingwebs (sheet-shaped backing materials such as nonwoven fabric) in theproduction process. This enables the production cost for wearingarticles to be decreased.

Further, when a produced disposable wearing article is worn, thetensions (shrinking forces) of elastic members adhered to sheetmaterials covering a front part and a back part are required not todiffer. Since this makes it unlikely for the front part and the backpart to be wrinkled, the disposable wearing article can look nicer toimprove the product value thereof.

In order to meet the above requirements, an object of the presentinvention is to provide a method for producing disposable wearingarticles that can reduce the production costs and improve the productvalue.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the present invention, an elastic stripmaterial is produced by sandwiching an elastic member between two websunder a stretched state in the longitudinal direction of the webs, andis halved in the widthwise direction so that protrusions and recessesalternately appear. A halved first elastic strip material and a halvedsecond elastic strip material are separated in the widthwise direction.Predetermined parts of the first and second elastic strip materials aremade to have a reduced shrinking force, and an absorber is attached ontothe predetermined parts of the first and second elastic strip materialsto thereby produce a disposable wearing article.

This method can ensure reduction in the production costs and improve theproduct value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a production process for disposableunderpants.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing states of production in steps 1 to 4.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing states of production in steps 5 to 9.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing states of production in steps 10 to 15.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of disposable underpants.

FIGS. 6A to 6D are sectional views showing essential portions of thestates of production in steps 1 to 4.

FIGS. 7A to 7D are sectional views showing essential portions of thestates of production in steps 5 to 9.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are sectional views showing essential portions of thestates of production in steps 10 to 15.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show disposable underpants of a first embodiment,wherein FIG. 9A is a plan view in its developed state, FIG. 9B is asectional view in side thereof.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show disposable underpants of a second embodiment,wherein FIG. 10A is a plan view showing a first and a second elasticstrip materials in step 3 and FIG. 10B is a plan view showing thedisposable underpants in a developed state.

FIGS. 11A and 11B show disposable underpants of a third embodiment,wherein FIG. 11A is a plan view of an absorber and FIG. 11B is a planview of the disposable underpants in a developed state.

FIGS. 12A and 12B show disposable underpants of a fourth embodiment,wherein FIG. 12A is a plan view showing a first elastic strip materialand a second elastic strip material in step 3 and FIG. 12B is a planview showing the disposable underpants in a developed state.

FIGS. 13A to 13D are schematic plan views of the disposable underpantsof the first to fourth embodiments.

FIG. 14A is a perspective view of disposable underpants and FIG. 14B isa plan view showing the point of an S-cut of the elastic strip material.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 13A to 13D are plan views showing disposable wearing articles ofthe pants type (hereinafter, referred to as “disposable underpants”) 1Ato 1D in their developed states.

In each pair of disposable underpants 1A to 1D, an absorber 2 is fixedacross a front part (first elastic strip material) P and a back part(second elastic strip material) Q. The absorber 2 is folded to place thefront part P and the back part Q one over the other and opposite sideportions 1 a of the front part P and the back part Q are sealed as shownin FIG. 14A, whereby each pair of disposable underpants 1A to 1D come totake a pant shape.

In the disposable underpants 1A to 1D, a crotch part R is formed by theabsorber 2 and openings S for legs are formed at the opposite sides ofthis absorber 2.

The summary of the production procedure of the disposable underpants 1Ato 1C shown in FIGS. 13A to 13C is described with reference to FIG. 14B.In order to facilitate the description, the description of thisproduction procedure does not necessarily coincide with that ofproduction steps 1 to 15 to be described later.

First, an elastic strip material 12 is cut into two in the widthwisedirection along a cutting line “b” so that protrusions 12 a and recesses12 b alternately appear; a first and a second elastic strip materials12A, 12B obtained by halving the elastic strip material 12 are cut alongcutting lines “a” to produce the front parts P and the back parts Q, andare displaced along longitudinal direction so that the protrusions 12 aand the recesses 12 b become in phase and separated along widthwisedirection; and each absorber 2 is fixed across both protrusions 12 a.

The disposable underpants 1D of FIG. 13D are obtained by separating thefirst and second elastic strip materials 12A, 12B along the widthwisedirection without displacing the phases and by attaching the absorber 2onto the protrusion 12 a and the recess 12 b.

In the disposable underpants 1A of the first embodiment shown in FIG.13A, elastic members 3 for waist and elastic members 4 for body fittingare adhered to the front part P and the back part Q, and the absorber 2is fixed across parts 12 c near the protrusions 12 a where the shrinkingforces of the elastic members 4 for body fitting are reduced.

In the disposable underpants 1B of the second embodiment shown in FIG.13B, elastic members 3 for waist, elastic members 4 for body fitting andelastic members 5 for around legs are adhered to the front part P andthe back part Q, and the absorber 2 is fixed across parts 12 c near theprotrusions 12 a where the shrinking forces of the elastic members 4 forbody fitting and the elastic members 5 for around legs are reduced.

The disposable underpants 1C of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 13Care obtained by adhering elastic members 6 for legs to the oppositesides of the absorber 2 of the disposable underpants 1B of FIG. 13B.

In the disposable underpants 1D of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG.13D, elastic members 3 for waist and elastic members 4 for body fittingare adhered to the front part P and the back part Q, and the absorber 2is fixed across parts 12 c near the protrusion 12 a and the recess 12 bwhere the shrinking forces of the elastic members 4 for body fitting arereduced.

Next, a method for producing the disposable underpants 1A of the firstembodiment shown in FIG. 13A as a representative example is describedwith reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

Steps 1 to 4 are steps for producing the first and second elastic stripmaterials 12A, 12B from the elastic strip material 12 while the elasticstrip material 12 runs in the transverse direction.

[Step 1] With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, the elastic members 4 forbody fitting for the front parts P and the back parts Q are sandwichedbetween an outer web 10 and an inner web 11 both made of nonwoven fabricand continuously fed in the longitudinal direction A while beingstretched in the longitudinal direction A, thereby producing the elasticstrip material 12 (see FIGS. 6A to 6C).

An adhesive such as a hot melt adhesive is applied to at least one ofthe webs 10, 11, which are adhered to each other while sandwiching theelastic members 4 for body fitting therebetween.

Polyurethane, natural rubber, thermoplastic resin or the like can beused as the material for the elastic members 4 for body fitting, and theelastic members 4 may take the shape of a thread, a ribbon or the like.One elastic member 4 may be used or a plurality of elastic members 4 maybe used together. In the case of using a thermoplastic resin as thematerial, the use of the hot melt adhesive may be unnecessary if thethermoplastic resin itself has a function of adhering the webs 10, 11.It should be noted that the respective elastic members 3, 5 to 7 to bedescribed later are made of similar material and take similar shapes.

[Step 2] The elastic strip material 12 is cut into two, i.e., the firstand second elastic strip materials 12A, 12B in the widthwise directionso that the protrusions (flap portions around legs) and the recesses 12b alternately appear in step 3 to be described next. Such a treatment asto reduce the shrinking forces of the elastic members 4 for body fittingnear the protrusions 12 a of the first and second elastic stripmaterials 12A, 12B is applied in preceding step 2, thereby forming theparts 12 c having reduced shrinking forces.

For a treatment to reduce the shrinking forces, there can be adopted amethod for melting the elastic members 4 for body fitting, for example,using an embossing roll (heat embossing) (see Japanese Unexamined PatentPublication No. 2002-113042) or a method for cutting the elastic members4 for body fitting by a gather cutter 14. It is preferable to melt orcut the elastic members 4 for body fitting while the elastic stripmaterial 12 is caused to extend along the roll by being vacuum-pulled.

Step of reducing the shrinking forces may be implemented any time up tolater-described step 10 of attaching the absorber 2.

[Step 3] The elastic strip material 12 is cut into two in the widthwisedirection W by an S-cutter 15 so that the protrusions 12 a and therecesses 12 b alternately appear in the elastic strip material 12(so-called S-cutting), thereby producing the first and second elasticstrip materials 12A, 12B.

[Step 4] The first and second elastic strip materials 12A, 12B obtainedby the halving are separated in the widthwise direction W to have aspecified spacing W1, and the phases thereof are shifted in thelongitudinal direction A so that the protrusions 12 a and the recesses12 b become in phase (see FIG. 6D). It is sufficient for the first andsecond elastic strip materials 12A, 12B to be separated until theabsorbers 2 are adhered after the so-called S-cutting.

As a method for shifting the phases, a continuous feeding distance ofthe first elastic strip material 12A in the longitudinal direction A maybe made longer than that of the second elastic strip material 12B in thelongitudinal direction A. Specifically, the feeding distance can be madelonger by feeding the first elastic strip material 12A along a dummyroll 16.

Steps 5 to 9 are steps for producing the absorbers 2 while the absorbers2 run along their longitudinal direction.

[Step 5] With reference to FIGS. 1, 3 and 7, a wider backing sheet 20 amade of a nonwoven fabric and a liquid impermeable narrower backingsheet 20 b continuously fed in the longitudinal direction A are adheredusing a hot melt adhesive or the like, and elastic members 7 for flapsare adhered in inwardly curved portions 20 c obtained by inwardlycurving the opposite widthwise ends of the wider backing sheet 20 b bymeans of a sealer 28 while being stretched in the longitudinal directionA (see FIG. 7A). The liquid impermeable sheet is preferably apolyethylene sheet or a water-repellant and breathing nonwoven fabric.The backing sheet 20 a may be a liquid impermeable sheet and the backingsheet 20 b may be a liquid permeable sheet, or both backing sheets 20 a,20 b may be liquid impermeable sheets. In other words, it is sufficientto prevent a liquid leakage from a core 2 a of the absorber 2 by thebacking sheet(s).

[Step 6] The cores 2 a of the absorbers 2 are formed by a method forplacing fluff obtained by crushing a roll pulp 17 by a crusher 18 (seeJapanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. S63-139547) while being letto run along their transverse direction. It should be noted that a highwater-absorbent polymer may be mixed with the fluff.

In the case of producing the cores 2 a while letting them to run intheir transverse direction, the orientation of the cores 2 a are turnedby 90° by means of a repitch turn drum (see International PublicationNo. WO01/44086).

[Step 7] The backing sheets 20 a, 20 b produced in step 5 are U-turnedto vertically invert them, the cores 2 a running along theirlongitudinal direction are placed on the backing sheet 20 b locatedabove (see FIG. 7B), and a liquid permeable top sheet 20 d is adhered tothe backing sheet 20 b together with the core 2 a using a hot meltadhesive or the like (see FIG. 7C), whereby the absorber 2 elongated inthe longitudinal direction A is produced. The liquid permeable sheet ispreferably a liquid permeable nonwoven fabric or a mesh sheet.

[Step 8] The inwardly-curved portions 20 v at the opposite ends of thebacking sheet 20 a located at a lower side are folded inwardly (see FIG.7D), thereby forming standing flaps 8. Instead of forming the standingflaps 8 using the backing sheet 20 a or 20 b, they may be formed usingthe top sheet 20 d. In such a case, parts of the top 20 d that serve asthe standing flaps are preferably waterproofed.

[Step 9] The absorber 2 elongated in the longitudinal direction A is cuttogether with the standing flaps 8 to a specified length by aninner-side cutter 21, thereby producing rectangular absorbers 2.

Steps 10 to 15 are steps for assembling the disposable underpants 1Arunning along their transverse direction.

[Step 10] The absorber 2 produced in step 9 has its orientation turnedby 90° by an inner-side turn drum 23 so as to run along its transversedirection (see left end of FIG. 3).

On the other hand, the first and second elastic strip materials 12A, 12Bproduced in step 4 and being fed in transverse direction are U-turned tobe vertically inverted, and the absorbers 2 are adhered across the parts12 c near the protrusions 12 a of the first and second elastic stripmaterials 12A, 12B where the shrinking forces are reduced (see FIG. 8A).

[Step 11] The elastic members 3 for waist are stretched in thelongitudinal direction A at opposite widthwise end portions 12 d of theouter web 10 of each of the first and second elastic strip materials12A, 12B, and these end portions 12 d are folded inwardly to adhere theelastic members 3 for waist within the opposite end portions 12 d (seeFIG. 8B). These opposite end portions 12 d are also so adhered to thefront and rear end portions of the absorber 2 as to cover the front andrear end portions of the absorber 2.

[Step 12] The absorber 2 is doubled with a middle position alongwidthwise direction W as a boundary by a doubling device 24 so that thefirst elastic strip material 12A comes to be located at an upper sideand the second elastic strip material 12B comes to be located at a lowerside (see FIG. 8C).

[Step 13] The first and second elastic strip materials 12A, 12B placedone over the other are melted for side sealing at middle positions(portions of the recesses 12 b and corresponding to the opposite sides 1a of the disposable underpants 1A) between adjacent absorbers 2 by aplurality of heat sealers 25 a to 25 c. It is not always necessary toprovide a plurality of heat sealers 25 a to 25 c. Instead of using theheat sealers 25 a to 25 c, side sealing may be carried out by ultrasonicwaves.

[Step 14] By cutting middle portions of portions 1 b, to which sidesealing was applied, by means of a product cutter 26, the disposableunderpants 1A having the opposite side portions 1 a thereof sealed arecompleted.

[Step 15] The disposable underpants 1A as a product are conveyed to aproduct checking step and to a packing step after being turned by 90° bya product inverter 27.

Among steps 1 to 15, the elastic strip material 12 is halved in thewidthwise direction, and the absorber 2 is adhered across the first andsecond elastic strip materials 12A, 12B with the divided first andsecond elastic strip materials 12A and 12B obtained by the halvingseparated along widthwise direction W in step 3. Thus, no trim (losspart) is produced even if the webs 10, 11 are cut in the productionprocess. Therefore, the production cost of the disposable underpants 1Acan be reduced.

Upon wearing the disposable underpants 1A produced by halving theelastic strip material 12 sandwiching the elastic members 4 for bodyfitting (elastic members 5 for around legs if necessary) at the sametension between the two webs 10, the front part P and the back part Qare unlikely to be wrinkled since the tensions (shrinking forces) of theelastic members 4, 5 of the front part P and the back part Q do notdiffer. Therefore, the disposable underpants 1A look nicer and theproduct value thereof can be improved.

In step 3 of halving the elastic strip material 12 in the widthwisedirection, the elastic strip material 12 is so cut that the protrusions12 a and the recesses 12 b alternately appear. In following step 4, thephases of the first and second elastic strip materials 12A, 12B obtainedby the halving are shifted in the longitudinal direction A so that theprotrusions 12 a and the recesses 12 b become in phase, and the firstand second elastic strip materials 12A, 12B are separated alongwidthwise direction W, whereby the absorbers 2 can be fixed across theboth protrusions 12 a of the first and second elastic strip materials12A, 12B. Since the absorbers 2 can be fixed to the protrusions 12 ahaving a large space, the attaching can be securely carried out.

Further, since parts of the absorber 2 can be covered by the bothprotrusions 12 a of the first and second elastic strip materials 12A,12B, the absorber 2 approximates to the shape of the pants. Therefore,the disposable underpants look nicer and the product value thereof canbe improved.

Further, the shrinking forces are unlikely to act on the absorber 2 byattaching the absorber 2 onto the parts near the protrusions 12 a of thefirst and second elastic strip materials 12A, 12B where the shrinkingforces are reduced. Thus, the absorber 2 is unlikely to shrink due tothe shrinking forces, therefore the property of being closely fitting tothe body can be improved.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show the specifically commercialized disposableunderpants 1A of the first embodiment corresponding to FIG. 13A, whereinFIGS. 9A and 9B are a plan view and a side view in section of thedisposable underpants 1A in a developed state. It should be noted that abody fluid dispersing sheet 2 b is provided between the core 2 a and thetop sheet 20 d.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show the specifically commercialized disposableunderpants 1B of the second embodiment corresponding to FIG. 13B,wherein FIG. 10A is a plan view showing the first and second elasticstrip materials 12A, 12B in step 3 and FIG. 10B is a plan view showingthe disposable underpants 1B in a developed state.

A first point of difference from the disposable underpants 1A of FIG. 9is that width W2 of the protrusions 12 a of the first elastic stripmaterial 12A is narrowed while width W3 of the protrusions 12 a of thesecond elastic strip material 12B is widened by cutting in step 2. Sincethe width W2 of the protrusion 12 a of the front part P is narrower, thecrotch part of the front part P is not wrinkled when the disposableunderpants 1B are worn. Further, since the width W2 of the protrusion 12a of the back portion Q is wider, the buttocks can be widely coveredwhen the disposable underpants 1B are worn. This can make the disposableunderpants 1B look nicer to improve the product value of the wearingarticle.

A second point of difference from the disposable underpants 1A of FIG. 9is that the elastic members 5 for around legs are sandwiched under astretched state in the respective protrusions 12 a of the first andsecond elastic strip materials 12A, 12B.

The elastic members 5 for around legs can be simultaneously sandwichedwhen the elastic members 4 for body fitting are sandwiched along thelongitudinal direction A of the webs 10, 11 under a stretched statebetween the outer web 10 and the inner web 11 in step 1 (see FIG. 1).This enables the protrusions 12 a to be better fitted to the legs of thebody.

In step 2, upon applying the treatment to reduce the shrinking forces ofthe elastic members 4 for body fitting near the respective protrusions12 a of the first and second elastic strip materials 12A, 12B, atreatment to reduce the shrinking forces of the elastic members 5 foraround legs may also be applied, whereby the parts 12 c having evenreduced shrinking forces can be formed.

FIGS. 11A and 11B show the specifically commercialized disposableunderpants 1C of the third embodiment corresponding to FIG. 13C, whereinFIG. 11A is a plan view of the absorber 2 and FIG. 11B is a plan viewshowing the disposable underpants 1C in a developed state.

The disposable underpants 1C are basically the same as the disposableunderpants 1B of FIG. 10, but differ therefrom in that hollows 2 c areformed at the opposite sides of the absorber 2 and the elastic members 6for legs are adhered along the hollows 2 c.

The elastic members 6 for legs can be sandwiched between the backingsheets 20 a, 20 b under a stretched state before the backing sheets 20a, 20 b are adhered using the hot melt adhesive or the like in step 5(see FIG. 1).

Since the hollows 2 c of the absorber 2 are continuous with the outercontour lines of the respective protrusions 12 a of the first and secondelastic strip materials 12A, 12B, the hollows 2 c fit well around thelegs of the body. In addition, the disposable underpants 1C can be heldin close contact with the crotch part of the body at the opposite sidesof the absorber 2 by the elastic members 6 for legs as well as by theelastic members 5 for around legs.

FIGS. 12A and 12B show the specifically commercialized disposableunderpants 1D of the fourth embodiment corresponding to FIG. 13D,wherein FIG. 12A is a plan view showing the first and second elasticstrip materials 12A, 12B in step 3 and FIG. 12B is a plan view showingthe disposable underpants 1D in a developed state.

The disposable underpants 1D are basically the same as the disposableunderpants 1B of FIG. 10. A first point of difference is that theprotrusion 12 a and the recess 12 b are formed to take moderate curvedlines over the entire width W4 of the disposable underpants 1D uponproducing the first and second elastic strip materials 12A, 12B in step3.

A second point of difference from the disposable underpants 1B of FIG.10 is that the first and second elastic strip materials 12A, 12B aremerely separated by a specified distance W1 in the widthwise direction Win step 4 without shifting them by half the phase in the longitudinaldirection A so that the protrusion 12 b and the recess 12 b become inphase (see FIG. 6D).

With the disposable underpants 1D, the production process can besimplified since a part of step 4 for shifting the phases isunnecessary.

A third point of difference from the disposable underpants 1B of FIG. 10is that the absorber 2 is not rectangular; a side thereof at the side ofthe front part P takes a narrower trapezoidal shape while a side thereofat the back part Q takes a wider trapezoidal shape; the standing flaps 8are tuned inwardly at the side of the front part P while being turnedoutwardly at the side of the back part Q.

The back part widened by this twisting of the standing flaps 8 and thewider back part Q of the absorber 2 can more effectively prevent alateral leakage, particularly, from the side of the back part Q.

As described above, an inventive method for producing disposable wearingarticles, comprises the steps of producing an elastic strip material bysandwiching an elastic member between two webs under a stretched statein the longitudinal direction of the webs; halving the elastic stripmaterial in the widthwise direction so that protrusions and recessesalternately appear; separating a first elastic strip material and asecond elastic strip material obtained by halving in the widthwisedirection thereof; reducing the shrinking force of the elastic membernear predetermined parts of the first and second elastic stripmaterials; and attaching an absorber onto the respective predeterminedparts of the first and second elastic strip materials where theshrinking force is reduced.

It may be appreciated to shift the phases of the first and secondelastic strip materials in the longitudinal direction thereof so thatthe protrusions and the recesses become in phase, and reduce theshrinking force of the elastic member near protrusions of the first andsecond elastic strip materials, and attach an absorber onto therespective protrusions of the first and second elastic strip materialswhere the shrinking force is reduced.

The elastic strip material is halved in the widthwise direction, and thefirst and second elastic strip materials obtained by the halving areseparated in the widthwise direction with the phases thereof shifted inthe longitudinal direction. In this state, the absorber is attached ontothe first and second elastic strip materials. Thus, no trim or loss partis produced even if the webs are cut in the production process. However,the webs may be slightly cut in order to design the first and secondelastic strip materials. In such a case, trims or loss parts areproduced, although only a small amount.

Further, upon wearing the disposable wearing article produced by halvingthe elastic strip material produced by sandwiching the elastic memberbetween the two webs at the same tension, the tensions or shrinkingforces of the elastic members adhered to the sheet materials coveringthe front part and the back part do not differ.

In the step of halving the elastic strip material in the widthwisedirection, the elastic strip material is so that the protrusions and therecesses alternately appear. In the succeeding step, the first andsecond elastic strip materials obtained by the halving have the phasesthereof shifted in the longitudinal direction so that the protrusionsand the recesses become in phase, and are separated in the widthwisedirection, whereby the absorber can be attached onto the two protrusionsof the first and second elastic strip materials.

Further, the two protrusions of the first and second elastic stripmaterials can cover parts of the absorber.

Furthermore, no shrinking force acts on the absorber by attaching theabsorber onto the parts of the first and second elastic strip materialswhere the protrusions where the shrinking force is reduced.

Alternatively, an inventive producing method may comprise the steps ofproducing an elastic strip material by sandwiching an elastic memberbetween two webs under a stretched state in the longitudinal directionof the webs; halving the elastic strip material in the widthwisedirection so that protrusions and recesses alternately appear;separating a first elastic strip material and a second elastic stripmaterial obtained by the halving in the widthwise direction; reducingthe shrinking force of the elastic members near the protrusions of thefirst elastic strip material and the recesses of the second elasticstrip material; and attaching an absorber onto parts of the first andsecond elastic strip materials where the shrinking force is reduced.

A point of difference of the latter producing method from the former oneis that the phases of the first and second elastic strip materialsobtained by the halving are not shifted in the longitudinal direction.This has an advantage of obviating the need for the step of shifting thephases, in addition to the functions and effects of the former producingmethod.

In the inventive producing method, the elastic member may be an elasticmember for body fitting and the method may further comprise a step ofadhering an elastic member for waist to the elastic strip material undera stretched state.

In the inventive producing method, the elastic member may include anelastic member for body fitting and an elastic member for around legs,and the method may further comprises a step of adhering an elasticmember for waist to the elastic strip material under a stretched state.

The inventive producing method may further comprise a step of foldingthe absorber to place the first and second elastic strip materials oneover the other and sealing the opposite side portions of the first andsecond elastic strip materials.

In the inventive producing method, standing flaps may be preferablyprovided at the opposite sides of the absorber.

In the inventive producing method, the standing flaps may be preferablyso twisted as to be turned inward at the front side of the absorber andto be turned outward at the back side of the absorber.

In the inventive producing method, hollows may be preferably formed atthe opposite sides of the absorber, and elastic members for legs areadhered along the hollows under a stretched state.

Accordingly, the elastic strip material is halved in the widthwisedirection and the first and second elastic strip materials obtained bythe halving are separated in the widthwise direction and have the phasesthereof shifted. In this state, the absorbers are fixed across the firstand second elastic strip materials. Thus, even if the webs are cut inthe production process, no trim (loss part) is produced. Therefore, theproduction cost for the wearing articles can be reduced.

Further, by halving the elastic strip material formed by sandwiching theelastic members between the two webs at the same tension, the tensions(shrinking forces) of the elastic members adhered to the sheet materialscovering the front part and the back part do not differ when theproduced disposable wearing article is worn. Thus, the front part andthe back part are unlikely to be wrinkled. Therefore, the wearingarticle can look nicer to improve the product value thereof.

In the step of halving the elastic strip material in the widthwisedirection, the elastic strip material is cut such that the protrusionsand the recesses alternately appear. In the succeeding step, the firstand second elastic strip materials obtained by halving have the phasesthereof shifted in the longitudinal direction so that the protrusionsand the recesses become in phase, and are separated in the widthwisedirection, whereby the absorber can be fixed across the two protrusionsof the first and second elastic strip materials. Since this enables theabsorber to be fixed to the protrusions having a large space, theattaching can be more securely carried out.

Further, since the two protrusions of the first and second elastic stripmaterials can cover parts of the absorber, the shape of the wearingarticle approximates to that of pants. Thus, the wearing article canlook nicer to improve the product value thereof.

Furthermore, no shrinking force comes to act on the absorber byattaching it onto the parts near the protrusions of the first and secondelastic strip materials where the shrinking forces are reduced. Thus,the absorber does not get shrunk due to the shrinking force, whereforethe absorber can be better fitted to the body.

The elastic members for body fitting can effectively prevent the wearingarticle from slipping down from the body when the wearing article isworn.

The elastic members for body fitting can effectively prevent the wearingarticle from slipping down from the body when the wearing article isworn and the elastic members for around legs enable the wearing articleto be better fitted to the legs of the body.

The wearing article can be made to be of the pants type.

The standing flaps can effectively prevent a lateral leakage from theopposite sides of the absorber.

Since the back side of the absorber is widened by the twisting of thestanding flaps, a lateral leakage, particularly from the back side canbe effectively prevented.

The opposite sides of the absorber can fit around the legs of the bodyby the hollows, and can be held in closer contact with the crotch partof the body.

1. A method for producing a disposable wearing article, comprising the steps of: producing an elastic strip material by sandwiching an elastic member between two webs under a stretched state in the longitudinal direction of the webs; halving the elastic strip material in the widthwise direction so that protrusions and recesses alternately appear; separating a first elastic strip material and a second elastic strip material obtained by halving in the widthwise direction; reducing the shrinking force of the elastic member near predetermined parts of the first and second elastic strip materials; and attaching an absorber onto the predetermined parts of the first and second elastic strip materials where the shrinking force is reduced.
 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising a steps of shifting the phases of the first and second elastic strip materials in the longitudinal direction thereof so that the protrusions and the recesses become in phase, after the step of separating, wherein the predetermined parts are protrusions of the first and second elastic strip materials.
 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is an elastic member for body fitting, the method further comprising a step of adhering an elastic member for waist to the elastic strip material under a stretched state.
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member include an elastic member for body fitting and an elastic member for around legs, the method further comprising a step of adhering an elastic member for waist to the elastic strip material under a stretched state.
 5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of folding the absorber to place the first and second elastic strip materials one over the other and sealing the opposite side portions of the first and second elastic strip materials.
 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein standing flaps are provided at the opposite sides of the absorber.
 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the standing flaps are so twisted as to be turned inward at the front side of the absorber and to be turned outward at the back side of the absorber.
 8. A method according to claim 1, wherein hollows are formed at the opposite sides of the absorber, and an elastic member for legs is adhered along the hollows under a stretched state.
 9. A method according to claim 2, wherein the elastic member is an elastic member for body fitting, the method further comprising a step of adhering an elastic member for waist to the elastic strip material under a stretched state.
 10. A method according to claim 2, wherein the elastic member include an elastic member for body fitting and an elastic member for around legs, the method further comprising a step of adhering an elastic member for waist to the elastic strip material under a stretched state.
 11. A method according to claim 2, further comprising a step of folding the absorber to place the first and second elastic strip materials one over the other and sealing the opposite side portions of the first and second elastic strip materials.
 12. A method according to claim 2, wherein standing flaps are provided at the opposite sides of the absorber.
 13. A method according to claim 2, wherein hollows are formed at the opposite sides of the absorber, and an elastic member for legs is adhered along the hollows under a stretched state.
 14. A method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined parts includes protrusions of the first elastic strip material and recesses of the second elastic strip material.
 15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the elastic member is an elastic member for body fitting, the method further comprising a step of adhering an elastic member for waist to the elastic strip material under a stretched state.
 16. A method according to claim 14, wherein the elastic member include an elastic member for body fitting and an elastic member for around legs, the method further comprising a step of adhering an elastic member for waist to the elastic strip material under a stretched state.
 17. A method according to claim 14, further comprising a step of folding the absorber to place the first and second elastic strip materials one over the other and sealing the opposite side portions of the first and second elastic strip materials.
 18. A method according to claim 14, wherein standing flaps are provided at the opposite sides of the absorber.
 19. A method according to claim 14, wherein hollows are formed at the opposite sides of the absorber, and an elastic member for legs is adhered along the hollows under a stretched state. 